The St. Johns County Science Curriculum is developed in accordance with Florida’s Next Generation Sunshine State Standards (NGSSS). The mandated standards are arranged to best facilitate student learning.
Middle school students enrolled in Comprehensive Science 3, Advanced Comprehensive Science 3, or Honors Physical Science will take the State wide Science Assessment (SSA) which requires that students demonstrate proficiency in 6th, 7th and 8th grade science benchmarks. Eighth grade students enrolled in Biology Honors will not take the SSA, but, will take the Biology End of Course assessment and it will count for thirty percent of their grade for the year.
Middle school/K-8 curriculum will vary, dependent upon the school. All of our schools offer “Comprehensive Science” and “Advanced Comprehensive Science Courses.” Comprehensive Science integrates the different fields of Science in each grade in order to provide a full range of Life, Chemistry and Earth Science curriculum by end of 8th grade. Some of our middle schools offer high school courses such as Honors Physical Science or Honors Biology.
Students at the high school level are required to take at least three “equally rigorous” courses in order to satisfy their Science graduation requirement. Every student will take a Biology course and must pass the course in order to receive credit – a graduation requirement. Other Science options, dependent on the school, are: Chemistry, Physics, Earth Space, Anatomy, Marine Science and honors versions of these courses. Most schools offer AP science courses. Two of our high schools, Pedro Menendez and Nease, are IB schools. St. Augustine High School is an AICE Cambridge school. Standard science courses are offered the IB and AICE schools.
Science instruction is delivered in a variety of formats, depending on the school. A variety of strategies and resources are utilized, including hands on materials, group work, and technology. Science is about observing, describing and thinking about the natural world and cultivating and encouraging a love for the sciences.
Marna Fox
Secondary Science Program Specialist